Poor Garrett, he was largely ignored throughout the Tate Seizure period. Ok, not totally ignored, but he was far less needy, and demanding than dealing with a seizure dog.
So, for a while, he got heavy, then we got him down to good weight, or maybe too skinny, and suddenly he got OLD.
We were very worried when we adopted him, as he shared many of the bloodlines of his at the time brother, Oliver, who succumbed to osteosarcoma at the age of 8. I can tell you we were nervous that Garrett would develop the dreaded ‘C’. But he cruised on by 8, then 9, and finally 10, and no issues.
Of course, by the time he was 6, he was beginning to feel the pain of arthritis. His joints hurt (particularly his shoulders which takes a lot of abuse during the races). He was on Metacam, an NSAID for dogs, but we knew that it was not good for him long term. Really tough on the liver and kidneys.
We got him off that, and on to some herbal medicines, but that worked for a while, again fading in its effectiveness.
Lately we have stumbled on a food that works for him (and more importantly, they he likes to eat), and have switched to a medicine that is idea for his achy joints, Rimadyl, and he is doing a lot better. In fact, last night, he roached for the first time in months!